Smith's 29 Propels Men's Basketball Past St. Andrews 91-77

MISENHEIMER, N.C. – Paced by a game-high 29 from Danny Smith (Baltimore, MD), Pfeiffer University claimed a 91-77 victory over St. Andrews in Conference Carolinas men’s basketball on Thursday night inside the Merner Gym. Smith connected on 9-of-19 for the night with four coming from behind the arc as the Falcons improve to 11-9 overall, 5-5 in league play. The loss for the Knights, their fifth-straight, sends them to 6-15, 1-8.

With 13:58 to play in the first, Smith knocked down his second triple of the night to put the Falcons up 17-5. After a layup by KC Anuna (Nashville, TN), the same easy bucket by Smith would give the hosts their largest lead of the night at 19, 33-14, with 7:41 remaining. St. Andrews’ Jason Murray (Syracuse, NY) would cut the lead down to 10 with a jumper at the 2:09 mark before Pfeiffer closed out on a 7-0 run with four free throws from Reggie Hollinger (Orlando, FL) grabbing a 44-27 halftime lead.

The Falcons maintained a healthy double-digit lead during the early stages of the second until a Knights 10-0 run with 10:35 to play got started with an Antonio Moffitt (Raleigh, NC) three-point play in the paint. After a triple and two free throws by Ryan Streater (Charlotte, NC), a Michael Dunkins (Candor, NC) bucket would give St. Andrews life down just nine, 70-61, with 8:44 showing on the clock.

Hollinger would then convert a three-point play of his own to push the Falcons back up a dozen before the Knights started a comeback again getting to within seven after a Moffitt jumper with 4:04 to play. From that point, Pfeiffer would record the next six points to provide the final bit of breathing room over the remaining 35 ticks.

Behind Smith’s 29, Anuna would end the night with 24 points and nine boards while Hollinger finished with 21. The Falcons shot 47% from the field holding a 40-35 rebound advantage while turning 21 St. Andrews turnovers into 26 points. The Knights were led by Moffitt’s 28 and Streater’s 21 shooting 50% as a team in the loss.

Pfeiffer will stay inside eastern division play beginning a tough two-game road trip at Mount Olive on Wednesday night. The initial jump ball will take place at 7:30 p.m. inside Kornegay Arena.